Banana Cream PieChicken Noodle Soup
by Peetabreadgirl
Summary: Katniss and Peeta meet on a bus in a less than conventional way. One prompt, two stories. I want to add 'horror' as a category because meeting this way would be horrifying, but that's just sarcasm talking.


**This is a combination of two stories I wrote for the same prompt on tumblr months ago - it includes vomit, but I tried not to make it gross. I wrote one for Katniss and one for Peeta. I just thought it wouldn't be fair if Peeta got yacked on, but not Katniss. :) I like to spread the love! Lol.**

* * *

 **Banana Cream Pie**

The bus was packed that afternoon as it pulled out of the Capitol's bus station, bound for the end of the line, District Twelve. It would make stops in Two, Four, Seven, and Ten before finally pulling into Peeta's destination. It was going to be a long 24 hours, but it was the only ticket he could afford. The train was faster, but too expensive for his college budget, and his mother was far too cheap to pay for him to come home for spring break. As far as she was concerned, he should stay in Capitol City and study more so he could graduate with honors from the expensive school they paid for. His dad, however, couldn't be happier that his youngest son was on his way home, and would most likely reimburse him the small bus fee when his mother wasn't looking.

The gentle rocking of the bus as it picked up speed after dropping off a handful of passengers in District Two, and adding a few more, lulled Peeta to sleep. Three hours later he woke as the bus slowed, pulling into District Four. From his seat near the window he could see one passenger standing on the platform, waiting to board. She was alone, no other passengers in sight, and as the bus pulled closer, finally halting in front of her, Peeta couldn't believe his luck.

The long, dark braid, petite frame, and slight scowl she always wore on her face were instantly recognizable. He knew this girl. Katniss Everdeen. They had gone to school together, and he'd had a crush on her since kindergarten, but she had never returned his affections. Not that he had tried very hard to get her to notice him. There was something about her that was incredibly intimidating. She was smart, independent, serious, and ridiculously proficient with a deadly weapon. She had won awards in archery every year since the eighth grade.

Peeta had hoped the things about him that drew the attention of all the other girls would have worked on Katniss, but they didn't. The wavy blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, solid physique and wrestling titles that had most of the giggly, popular girls vying for his affections did not seem to taunt her. Maybe that was why he was so drawn to her. She was different, someone special. It wasn't until tenth grade that he gave up hope of Katniss ever being his. She started hanging around a tall, dark and broody senior, and Peeta was sure he was no match for Gale Hawthorne. He had to painfully listen to all the girls in his grade gossipping about how lucky Katniss was to land him, and how did she do that?

Peeta looked around the bus, noticing it was still full and wondering where Katniss would sit. There was one seat diagonal in front of him, next to an older gentleman that was slumped over in sleep. He looked at the passenger seated next to him, a too-big, down coat and a black beanie pulled down over his ears, bobbing his head to whatever loud music was playing on his iPod. Peeta quickly tapped him on his shoulder, not having much time to act. The guy, who wasn't much younger than Peeta, pulled one earphone from his ear.

"Yeah?" he questioned, one eyebrow raised.

"Would there be any way you would switch seats and sit next to that guy up there?" Peeta asked hopefully, only realizing after the words left his mouth how lame they were. The guy seemed genuinely confused as he looked back and forth between the old man and Peeta.

"Um, no?" he replied, pushing the bud back into his ear. The hiss of the door opening told Peeta he needed to move fast. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet and the only cash he had brought on this trip.

"Here, take this," he said, shoving it into the guy's chest. He turned the money over in his hand, contemplating the offer. "It's thirty-five dollars. Take it. Please?" he pleaded.

"Whatever, dude," he replied to Peeta indifferently, moving to the vacant seat just as Katniss turned down the aisle. Peeta breathed a sigh of relief, but the nervousness in his stomach had him rethinking his move. Was this too obvious? Surely Katniss wouldn't know he just paid a guy to move so she would have to sit next to him. It sounded so creepy. Maybe she wouldn't recognize him.

"Peeta? Peeta Mellark?"

Or maybe she would.

"Katniss? Hey!" Peeta said nervously, wiping his clammy hands on his jeans as she sat down next to him. He silently berated himself over how excited he must have sounded. He could have at least pretended he barely remembered her. He didn't even use her last name. That would have been more convincing that he wasn't expecting her.

Katniss leaned down, stowing her small duffel bag under the seat in front of her. Peeta noticed his old seat neighbor waving his arms in the air to get his attention, winking and giving a thumbs up sign, to which Peeta rolled his eyes and looked away. Peeta gave Katniss his undivided attention as she sat up straight, shooting him a shy smile.

"I'm surprised you remembered me," she admitted.

"Why wouldn't I remember you?" Peeta questioned genuinely, staring into her silver eyes, luminous as the moon hanging outside. Surely she must have noticed him looking her way a few times. Okay, a lot of times. Honestly, his thoughts were about her most minutes of the day, but there would be no way for her to know that and he wasn't about to share it.

"Actually, I never thought you knew I existed," she said sheepishly, toying with the end of her braid. Peeta's brain did a double-take at this information, and he was pretty sure his face was giving away his incredulous thoughts. How on earth could she think he wouldn't know she existed when, in fact, the opposite was true - no one else existed _besides_ her.

"That's - I'm, I'm speechless," Peeta stuttered. "I'm sorry, I had no idea you felt that way."

"Don't feel bad. You were popular and I was… not." She said it so matter-of-factly it made Peeta want to go back in time to when they were five years old and change his entire approach to Katniss Everdeen. Did she want to be noticed by him? His nervousness gave way to a bit of courage and he felt a little more at ease.

"So, how are you? What are you doing on this bus?" Peeta asked, hoping to converse with her as much as possible before they had to part ways.

"I'm good. My sister, Prim, is in Four studying to be a nurse. I was just visiting and now I'm on my way home."

"So, you're still in Twelve?"

"Actually I just moved back there after studying Forestry in Seven. I'm hoping to get on with Twelve's Parks and Rec's Department," she answered.

"That suits you," Peeta said as he remembered how much she loved being in the woods. He would notice her walking past his family's bakery towards the woods with Gale on the weekends, and they wouldn't pass back by until sundown. Peeta always hoped they were doing outdoorsy things like hiking, hunting, or climbing trees rather than the things a normal teenage boy would want to do if he were alone with a pretty girl.

"So, how's Gale?" His question surprised Katniss, as well as himself. He hadn't meant to ask. It just fell out of his mouth, but now that it was out there, he was a little anxious to know the answer.

"Um, he's good. Did you- did you know him?" she asked in a puzzled manner.

"Well, I knew of him," he explained, feeling stupid for asking. "I knew he was your boyfriend, so I just assumed-"

"Boyfriend? Gale?" Katniss snorted at this revelation, covering her mouth with her hand, and Peeta grinned. The snort was adorable on her and he was oh, so happy to hear her rebut this false knowledge. "Ew. He's like a brother to me," she added, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Peeta admonished all the jealous thoughts he'd had of Katniss and Gale, silently thanking the Fates for giving him this second, well, probably more like ninety-ninth, chance with the girl that he'd told his father he was going to marry when he was just six years old.

"He actually just married my friend from college, Johanna. I had to be a bridesmaid," she added, pointing her finger down her throat in mock aversion.

"Oh?" Peeta responded with pure interest. Not only was Katniss grossed out by the idea of being with Gale, but he wasn't even a factor to stand in Peeta's way. Could this night get any better?

All nervousness aside, Peeta and Katniss chatted amiably for the next hour in complete comfortability. They talked about their families, experiences at college, favorite foods, and Peeta even promised to take Katniss to Capitol City's famous extreme amusement park if she came to visit, to which she emphatically said "yes."

"Peeta, do you mind, I mean, would you be okay to switch seats with me?"

"Sure," Peeta said, curious as to why, but not wanting to pry into her reasoning.

"It's just that, I get a little nauseous sometimes on these long bus rides, and sitting next to the window helps it not be too bad," she clarified, grimacing at him, hand on her tummy.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem." Katniss stood and Peeta slid over into her seat, while she tried to scoot across him, stumbling and falling half into his lap and half into the seat.

"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry, Peeta," Katniss apologized, her face reddening. He didn't mind it one bit. In fact, there was quickly rising evidence that he rather enjoyed it, made even worse by the fact that she put her hand on his upper thigh for balance to lift herself off him. Peeta suppressed a low groan, biting his knuckles to keep from embarrassing himself. Katniss didn't seem to notice, and soon she was staring out the window, their conversation apparently over, to Peeta's disappointment.

Despite the excitement of having Katniss Everdeen mere inches away, Peeta found himself exhausted and falling asleep again. He dreamt of everything Katniss. Katniss flashing her unforgettable smile at him, the one that melts his heart. Katniss and him spending time together, picnics and skinny dipping in the lake. Katniss saying yes to him when he asks her to marry him, and the passionate night they would have after that. Katniss holding his little bundle of joy in her arms, him brushing away loose strands of sweat-drenched hair from her flawless face. The dreams were so perfect he would have stayed in them forever if he could, but a light tapping on his shoulder brought him back to reality. Looking towards the touch, he saw Katniss and couldn't help but smile at her, the dream so fresh it seemed like reality.

"Peeta?" The way she whispered his name had him thinking he'd died and gone to Heaven.

"Yes?" he replied dreamily. Blinking and trying to clear his eyes from the blurred drowsiness, he noticed a tint to her normally olive skin, deciding the lack of lighting must be playing with his eyes. He brought his hands up to rub them, then opened them to survey her once more. Nope. She was definitely green.

"I don't feel well," she confessed, one hand on her stomach and one now covering her mouth.

"Okay, well what can I-" before Peeta could finish his question, Katniss had doubled over, spewing vomit that smelled strangely like bananas, all over his lap. His eyes went wide and his hands went in the air in disbelief. Another gag and slightly less vomit emerged, and Peeta's hands instinctively went to her hair, gathering it and holding it back while Katniss unloaded the contents of her stomach onto him. It was a strange situation he found himself in. He was oddly calm as Katniss went into dry heaves, then finally pulling back and apologizing profusely while trying to find something to clean him up with. Thankfully the rest of the passengers were asleep, and no one seemed to notice the smelly mess. Except for Peeta's old seat neighbor, who pinched his nose and gave him a look that said "that blows, dude," to which Peeta again rolled his eyes and looked away.

After cleaning up as much as they could, Katniss and Peeta took turns in the bathroom, changing clothes and freshening themselves. Peeta had brought a small towel and spread it over both seats to cover any wetness that had seeped through his legs when the chunky puddle hit his jeans.

"Do you think you'll be okay?" he asked her, wondering if he should prepare for another bout of sickness. He only had a few more items in his bag to change into, and there were at least five hours left on the bus before they arrived at Twelve.

"I should be okay now. It's more of a one and done kind of thing," she assured him. He watched her as her eyelids drooped. "Do you mind if I borrow your shoulder? This window kind of hurts my head." Peeta was pleasantly surprised by her question and didn't hesitate to give her a "yes," even if it meant she may spew on him again. It was worth it to him.

"You know, Peeta," Katniss started softly. "I always liked you in school. I knew you were a great guy. I just didn't know how to talk to you. I guess I should have thrown up on you back then." Katniss' breathing evened out as Peeta contemplated her words.

"I wish you would have."

* * *

 **Chicken Noodle Soup**

Katniss rearranged the duffel bag draped over her shoulder as she maneuvered through the aisle of the bus. It was completely full except for two vacant seats, one next to a really attractive blonde guy who was sweating profusely and looked half-dead to the world, and the other next to a large woman wielding a sharp needle and giant ball of pink yarn who smelled like hot onions. Her best option had to be Blondie, she thought as she huffed and slung her bag into the overhead compartment.

Before she could crash into the seat, the blonde looked over at her, blue eyes red-rimmed and half-lidded.

"You might not want to sit next to me. I've got the flu." His voice was raspy and exhausted, and Katniss felt a pang of remorse for the poor guy. Still, it was better than Aunt Vidalia and her knitting needle, so she decided to chance it.

Plopping down in the seat, she tried to ignore the man next to her, his curls tipped in the sweat beading at his temples and brow, but her curiosity got the best of her. Flitting her eyes over she could see his cheeks were flushed and his breathing was heavy. He looked to be in an awful state. She'd had the flu three weeks ago and had been miserable for an entire seven days. This guy looked to be on about day two or three. Compassion wasn't Katniss' strong suit, but she found herself full of it for this unfortunate soul.

"Excuse me, sir," she said to him quietly. He answered without turning to look at her and she could barely see his lips move. He had it bad.

"Sir is my father. You can call me Peeta," he said in a lethargic voice.

"Okay, Peter," she repeated sweetly.

"Peet-A," the guy enunciated. "No 'er'." Katniss tried not to be irritated at his correction. It was probably a common mistake. Who names their kid Peet-a instead of Pet-er?

"Sorry," Katniss replied, deciding to forego the name altogether. "You look like you've got a pretty high fever-"

"Do I, now?" If his fever weren't so obvious she wouldn't have caught the sarcasm, his voice being so even and tired. Apparently she had chosen the wrong seat. Before she could switch, the man lost his lunch, having been hurled in her direction from the force of his stomach heaving.

Katniss let out something between a disgusted groan and a high-pitched squeal at the splash of chunks of – chicken? – hitting her lap. Still as stone, all she was thinking about was how she would rather be smelling hot onions instead of regurgitated chicken noodle soup.

"Oh my god, I'm so- um, you don't look so good," he announced, changing his sentence mid-thought, bewilderment etched into his face. She hadn't moved, was frozen in place, fighting her own reaction to seeing his lunch come around a second time. She thought she could tamp it down, until she made the mistake of looking at his face. His lips, lips that would most likely be plump and pink, were pale and glistening with sticky moisture, a tiny drop of noodle hanging from his bottom lip. She might have even laughed if it weren't for the roiling of her stomach and the sheer absurdness of the situation.

Not today. She frantically tried to search for a baggie to release it into, and having no luck, her lunch soon joined his for all to see. She couldn't help it, she had a weak stomach when it came to people and body fluids. Her sister was the one who could handle human blood, urine and the like. Why couldn't it be her in this seat? She would know what to do.

Rising from her seat, and leaving Peeta to clean up his own mess, Katniss grabbed her duffel bag and headed towards the tiny lavatory to clean up and change her soiled clothing. On the way she noticed the increased number of vacant seating that surrounded them as people had moved and were now sitting three to a row instead of just two.

Swearing under her breath, she locked herself in the bathroom and began the work of cleaning up, stifling a few gag reflexes as she peeled off her skinny jeans, chunks of half-digested food falling onto the floor. The jeans went into the wastebasket and she fetched a new pair of leggings after thoroughly wiping down her legs with her makeup remover towelettes.

Finally satisfied with her appearance and smell, she exited the bathroom and headed for the seat the needle-knitter had vacated. As it was too close to ground zero, the row was empty and Katniss stretched out on both seats, finally able to get comfortable for the rest of the ride home. She glanced over to Peeta, slumped over on the window. Her heart tugged once again as she noticed he hadn't moved nor tried to clean himself up. Looking around, irritation set in at the impassive and insensitive nature of people.

"Is no one going to help him?" she cried out, enraged at their lack of concern for a fellow human being. No one's gaze met her steely eyes, and so she loudly stomped back to the lavatory, grabbing a handful of paper towels and snatching a full bottle of water from Vidalia's hand on her way back to Peeta.

She began to clean the seat next to him, and the slight amount of vomit that made it onto his jeans, even though he probably had no idea anyone was even touching him. She reached over to gently touch his forehead, gasping at the heat that radiated from him. She may not be a healer like her sister, but she could at least make him comfortable until he made it to wherever he was going.

"Hey. Peeta?" she whispered as she shook him lightly. He stirred, waking enough to stare into her eyes, dazed and confused. "Here, drink this." She put the water bottle up to his lips and tilted it slowly, watching his throat bob to gage how much he was drinking. When she was satisfied he handed him three aspirin.

"Take these. It will at least bring your temperature down enough to make you less miserable." Peeta thankfully did as he was told. Katniss did not want to have to force him, and after he swallowed the pills, she encouraged him to drink the rest of the water.

"Why are you helping me? I just threw up all over you. If I were you I'd be on the other side of the bus by now," Peeta managed to say.

"Somehow I doubt that. Here," she said, patting her shoulder. She might as well go all in for the guy. "Rest your head on me." This was so unlike her, but her sister would be proud. It's exactly what she would do, and Katniss was pretty sure her sister always did the right thing.

A few hours later, after falling asleep with her cheek propped on the top of Peeta's head, she awoke when he stirred. They both sat upright, Peeta rubbing his eyes and Katniss stretching her stiff limbs.

"How do you feel?" she asked him.

"Slightly better, thanks to you…Miss?" His lazy smile caused a strange but welcome feeling in Katniss that took her by surprise.

"Katniss. I'm Katniss," she answered his question. "And anyone would have done the same," she lied, not wanting to tell him that she was actually the only one willing to help him, and that was after he vomited on her and she tried to avoid him.

"Well, no one else did. It was just you." He took a deep breath, resting his head on the back of his seat and Katniss saw how exhausted he was.

"I don't suppose I could buy you dinner as a thank you, could I?" he asked.

"In your condition? I'll probably have to carry you off this bus to whoever is waiting for you at the station," she said cheekily.

"How about when I'm all better?" he countered, leisurely eyeing her from his relaxed position.

"I'll make you a deal, Peet-A," she quipped, enunciating his name exactly as he had earlier, eliciting a weak laugh from him. "You keep from upchucking on me again, and I'll allow it." She had never agreed to eat dinner with a stranger before, and she had no idea why she was doing it now. But something about him had her excited.

"Done," he agreed, lazily laying his head back on her shoulder and drifting off to sleep again.

 **Reviews appreciated! Pbg**


End file.
